Red Letter Day
by Bezelburr
Summary: The replacement for Minelli has finally arrived, and she's not too happy with the condition of the SCU unit. Eventual run in with Red John. For those of you just now tuning in, I started this before Hightower was introduced. But I plan to finish this!
1. Chapter 1: Sasha Clayson

**Red Letter Day  
**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Mentalist

**Rating: **M for safe measure due to language and suggested themes

**Spoilers:** Up to His Right Red Hand

**Summary:** The replacement for Minelli has finally arrived, and she's not too happy with the condition of the unit.

**Author's Notes:** This is my first fanfic ever! I'm tres excited about it! Since This is my first, I'll take any and all kinds of criticism, so fire away! *ducks*

***

**Chapter 1: Sasha Clayson**

Just another day at the CBI headquarters, and Lisbon and her team were hard at work filling out paperwork. They were all bored, especially Jane, since he didn't really have to fill out any paperwork. Though they hated to admit that they were looking forward to a tragedy, it was why they all had become agents in the first place. And as Jane was about to start messing with the team to amuse himself, they all heard several dings from each of their computers alerting them to a new e-mail. The news they were dreading: Minelli's permanent replacement had finally arrived. She wanted to introduce herself to each unit individually, and Lisbon's team was to meet her in ten minutes.

After Lisbon gave Jane a stern talking to, demanding that he be on his best behavior, the team headed to their new boss's office.

Van Pelt had a wide smile, eager to meet their new boss. But she was slightly nervous, as she was still the youngest in the team and felt like she had to make a good first impression. Rigsby was more visibly nervous. It didn't help that the new boss was female, and he often blurted the first thing that popped into his head when he was nervous. He was going to have to keep check of himself. Cho was interested to meet their new boss and see what she would be like. He held a small smile to keep the friendly appearance. Lisbon didn't seem to feel one way or another, at least not outwardly. But she was apprehensive. Minelli was more than just a boss to her, he was someone she knew she could count on, no matter what, and she deeply respected him. She didn't know this woman, she didn't know if she could trust her. Jane just seemed bored, paying more attention to the walls and the people they were passing.

Lisbon knocked on the door and held the door open for her team when they heard their new boss welcome them all in. She wore a bright smile as she got up to shake everyone's hands. Her hair hung just past her shoulders in a light blond wave. She wore a professional, yet feminine button-up white shirt with small ruffles on the front. A light complexion with deep blue eyes that seemed to draw you in. Without her heels, she would be a couple inches taller than Van Pelt, and with them she matched Jane in height. Visibly, this was a woman no one would be able to ignore on the street.

"Nice to finally meet you all. I've heard so much about you from Minelli and the other units. My name is Sasha Clayson."

"It's nice to meet you too." Lisbon wanted to speak for her team, and try and make sure Jane said as little as possible. "I'm agent--"

"Teresa Lisbon." Sasha had cut her off, to show that she had done her homework. "And agents Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt." She pointed to each of them as she spoke their names. "And of course the infamous Patrick Jane." She had saved her biggest smile for him as she turned to the blond consultant.

"I see you've done your homework" Jane said casually as he flashed a smile to match Sasha's.

"I like to be prepared. I know just about everything about you and this team... And how it operates." She held onto her bright smile, but authoritative disapproval flashed out of her eyes, making just about everyone shift a little uncomfortably.

"What do you mean by that?" Rigsby could only close his eyes in embarrassment. He didn't mean to blurt that out, but he was nervous. No one else seemed to really blame Rigsby for his outburst, though, they were all thinking the same thing.

"I mean that if you want to continue working here, there are going to have to be some changes. The reports I read, well, they're simply staggering. The amount of complaints, charges, not to mention the stunts you all pulled on hunches." Her smile was gone.

"We close cases." Lisbon retorted.

"How many times have you used that line, doll?" Lisbon couldn't retort. Not for lack of words, but just because it was too early to start such a big argument with the new boss. She, and her team, needed to keep some sort of good image after all. She glared at Jane through the corner of her eye, telling him to keep his mouth shut. And for once, he complied, simply putting his hands behind his back and rolling on his toes.

Sasha flipped through a folder, keeping her eyes on the papers as she spoke.

"And the first thing, is I've noticed that you and your team are due for a sexual harassment course. There's a session today at three, and I strongly urge you to attend it. Get it out of the way as soon as possible."

She took one last smiling glance up at the team before she waved them out of her office. And single file they left her office. Jane was the last to leave, holding the door for the team. He looked back to Sasha, held up one hand and left with a "See ya."

"Well that could have gone better." Cho sighed, causing the team to let out a small chuckle before heading back to their desks.


	2. Chapter 2: Sexual Harassment

I'm going to stray away from Sasha's character for a bit. I needed something to lead up to situations that will ensue, plus she can only be so involved with the team since she's in charge of the whole CBI. But I hope you enjoy the crime I made up, I now have a new found respect to the tv writers who make up this stuff for every episode! And I had to throw in a sexual harassment course because I was forced to take one not too long ago. *twitch* I kept thinking about the episode of NCIS where they go through one of those lectures, thought it'd be fun to toy with. But I'm rambling now, please enjoy!

***

**C****h. 2 – Sexual Harassment**

Three o' clock came much faster than everyone had wanted. Rounded up in a conference room with about ten other poor saps, sitting at lined tables with cheap, plastic chairs listening to a woman discuss some lawsuit histories dealing with sexual harassment. Everyone felt like they were back in high school in a very, very boring class. Van Pelt was taking down a few notes on anything she felt she might have to remember later, reverting back to her good-student mode. No doubt she made straight A's all throughout school. Rigsby was anxiously tapping a pencil to his thigh, not able to hold still.

"Now while consensual relationships between co-workers is not considered sexual harassment, and not usually forbidden, this can often lead to situations that would fall under a category of sexual harassment. Therefore it's best just to avoid office relationships all together."

Van Pelt and Rigsby glanced nervously at each other through the corner of their eyes and then shifted slightly away from each other. Cho noticed, and couldn't help but chuckle softly under his breath.

Jane and Lisbon sat in the back, occasionally listening in on the lecture. Lisbon had been to enough sexual harassment courses that she felt she needed a diploma for the hours she wasted in these lectures. She let out a soft sigh as she leaned onto the table. Leaning back in his chair, Jane felt he could kill some boredom by reaching around an unsuspecting Lisbon and gently tickling the side opposite to him. She jolted upright, glaring at the nearly comatose man who happened to be sitting at her side. She whipped around to lightly slap Jane on she shoulder after she realized the sleeping man probably wasn't even aware that the lecture was still going on. She growled at Jane. A little louder than she had intended.

"Jane, I'm going to--"

"Yes ma'am, do you have a question?"

"I, uh--" Lisbon was staggering, trying to think of a question, any question at all. Jane just smiled, this was thoroughly entertaining to him. She saw his smile, she was going to get him back. "Um, could you go over relationships in offices again, just to clarify?"

"Of course..."

"Oh you will pay for that." Lisbon whispered to Jane.

"What? Are you going to file sexual harassment charges on me, Lisbon?" Jane chuckled

---

Finally they were freed from the lecture, and much to their luck, Lisbon received a call informing them of a new case. It took the team's full restraint from running to the parking lot, they just had to leave the building.

The crime took place at a modeling company in San Francisco. By the time they had arrived it was already dark and everybody was visibly exhausted. The crime scene would have to wait. So the team headed to the nearest hotel and booked their rooms. Everyone fell asleep in their rooms once they arrived. Well, all except Rigsby and Van Pelt, who had stayed up just a little bit longer than everyone else after Rigsby managed to sneak into Van Pelt's room.

---

The victim, Joyce Wilson, was found in her changing room. From forensics, they discovered arsenic in her system. TOD showed to be about three thirty the previous day. While no one was certain if it was murder or suicide, the lack of a suicide note pointed toward the former.

It was definitely going to be a long day, though. Literally hundreds of people had been in that building at the time of death. They started with those that were working directly with her at the time.

"Cho, you go talk to the models she was working with yesterday."

"Right away, Boss." Cho kept a straight face, but the subtle spring in his step gave away his contained excitement on talking to four very beautiful women.

"Van Pelt, you go talk to the manager of the clothing line she was going to model for. Rigsby, you go talk to the photographer."

"Yes Boss." They answered in unison.

"And we'll go talk to her contractor?"

Lisbon nodded and held out her hand, allowing Jane to lead the way.


	3. Chapter 3: Visage

Wow, 3 updates in 3 days O_o You can thank my 6 hours of sleep I've gotten in that amount of time (hahahaha no I'm not kidding...). But this chapter is pretty much all on suspects. Don't know when I'll update the next chapter, hopefully tomorrow. But thanks to all for reading this, and as always all criticism, pointers, ideas, cookies are accepted! Especially cookies.

***

**Ch. 3 - Visage**

"Mr. Hogan?" Lisbon tried to be as polite as possible, but Karl Hogan kept answering his cell phone every two seconds. She lost patience when he answered his phone yet again, only holding up a finger to them. She walked over and closed his phone.

"That was very important! Who do you think you are?"

"Sir, this is a murder investigation! We need your full cooperation. If not, we'll be more than happy to take you into custody and talk to you in an interrogation room."

With a huff, Karl Hogan turned off his cell phone and took a seat.

"You're right. What can I do to help?"

"Uh, yeah, what are your clients modeling exactly?" Jane asked before Lisbon could get straight to business.

"We model for the Visage clothing company. Mostly casual wear for young adults. What exactly does that have to do with Joyce?"

"Oh just curious."

"Tell us about Joyce." It was right back to business with Lisbon.

"Not much to tell. I travel extensively, looking for new models. She was from a small town in Tennessee. Anything more about her personal life I didn't know about. I have hundreds of other models I have to deal with, along with thousands of potential models I seek out."

"Did Joyce have any enemies? Anyone with a grudge?"

"Hon, I work for a modeling agency. Nobody is friendly to each other here. If Joyce did have any enemies, I wouldn't know since everybody here acts like an enemy to each other."

"Why is that?"

"Competition. All the models want to be the prettiest and the most recognized. And everyone else wants to be recognized for their work with the models. Nobody makes friends here. You've gotta be fierce if you want to make it to the top."

"We've got to ask: Where were you yesterday around three thirty?"

"I was in a meeting with Mr. Voyer, the head of Visage, and a team of advertisers."

"We're going to need names and numbers of everyone who was there."

"Of course."

---

Cho found himself in a less than pleasant situation than he had hoped he would be in. The four beautiful models were sitting on a bench just outside of the building, puffing away at their cigarettes while trash talking to recently deceased.

"Well she deserved to die anyway. She was such a bitch!" The brunette had caught Cho's attention with that.

"Where were you the time of the murder?"

"Are you saying I did this? Hell no, I didn't kill her, but I'm sure as hell glad she's dead!"

"Besides, she was out here with us, having a smoke before our shoot." The blond defended

"Do you have any other witnesses to confirm that?"

"Nope, just us four." The snide remark sliced through Cho, who no longer wanted to be around the beautiful women. Their personalities sure killed any physical beauty they had.

"All right. We'll contact you if we need any more information." Just as he was about to leave, another model walked by.

"Hey cutie. How about I take you out tonight? I know a great club just down the street."

Cho thought about it for a minute. It would be pretty cool to be able to tell people that he went on a date with a model. But as she pulled out a cigarette of her purse and lit it up, Cho's face grimaced.

"No. Thank you. Have a good day ma'am."

---

"I only do the photo shoots for women's apparel, sir." John Boris glanced up at Rigsby while taking apart his camera.

"No, Mr. Boris. I'm with the CBI, we're investigating Joyce Wilson's death. I just need to ask you a few questions."

"Oh right. I'm sorry. Such a tragedy to lose such a beautiful woman. It's a good thing the world will never run out of beautiful women."

"Uh, yeah. I understand that you were her photographer on the day of her death."

"Yes. Her along with Jennifer, Sarah, Rebecca and Krista. All very beautiful, but Joyce was definitely the hottest of the bunch with her long, red hair."

"Right. Well, where were you at three thirty yesterday?"

"I was in my studio, preparing for the shoot."

"Can anyone verify that?"

"No. Are you saying I did this?"

"Did you?"

"No! Joyce and I... Joyce and I were close. She helped get me out of that po-dunk town in Tennessee when she became a model. She showed the agency my work and helped put in a good word for me to get this job."

"You said you two were close. Were you involved with her romantically?"

"We had sex. A lot. If that's what you're asking. Is there anything else? I have another shoot in ten minutes and I need to prepare."

"That's all for now, Mr. Boris. We'll be in touch."

Rigsby could only look in shock when John whistled at two models when walked into the room. Pig.

---

Rigsby met up with Jane and Lisbon, eager to see if they had made any progress.

"How'd it go boss?"

"Cho and Van Pelt are checking Hogan's alibi right now. Otherwise, I don't see what he could gain by killing Wilson. What did you find out?"

"Other than the fact that Boris enjoys his job far too much, he and Wilson were from the same town. He says they were close, but he has no solid alibi, and I don't believe for a second he could be too close to any woman for more than a few days."

"We'll check back up on him. Until then go and --"

"Hey! Stop!"

They turned their attention down the hall to see a man in a grungy coat running away from two security guards. His jacket flapped open to reveal a small hand gun.

"He's armed!"

Lisbon and Rigsby sprang into action, hoping this wouldn't turn to violent. Jane just trotted out of the way, not wanting to get involved in any violence, but still wanting to watch the action. A soft smile spread across his face as Lisbon, yet again, managed to take down a man twice her size. Rigsby took away the man's weapon as quickly as possible and the cuffs were slapped on him. The man cried out, but it seemed more out of anguish than physical pain.

---

"What were you doing in the building, Mr. Harris?" Cho asked with a stern face.

"David." He corrected.

"Ok, David. What were you doing?"

"I just wanted to see if it was true- I just, I just- I didn't mean any harm."

"Then why'd you have a gun with you?"

"Because! I had to find him. The bastard. I had to find the guy who killed Joyce! Joyce, Joyce..." This man seemed crazy, or on drugs. Possibly both judging from his grungy appearance.

"David. Joyce had a restraining order filed against you. It's not your first either. Three other restraining orders, a known stalker."

"I don't stalk people!" He shouted much louder than was necessary. "I-I-I watch after those I care about. Joyce... She can't be gone! Joyce..."

The rest of the team was watching from behind the glass.

"Man, this guy is nuts." Rigsby pointed out the obvious.

"Yeah. Well right now he's our most likely suspect. We're going to hold him." Lisbon stated.

"Nah, he's innocent." Of course Jane thought he was innocent.

"She had a restraining oder on this man. He's obviously come into contact with her before. And apparently he can make his way into the third story of the building. Not to mention he was armed, and crazy. How could you know if he's innocent?"

"Why would he kill a woman he was obsessed with? And Joyce was poisoned, which takes careful planning. You said so yourself, he's crazy. He couldn't possibly plan something like that out."

"Maybe, we don't know just how crazy he is!"

Rigsby and Van Pelt rolled their eyes and sighed silently at Jane and Lisbon's bickering.

"Look, either way he broke into the building, armed. We can't just let him go. But we'll go back to the building and continue interviewing people if it makes you any happier."

"That would make me happier, Lisbon. Thanks. I'd like to talk to that photographer Rigsby spoke so highly of." This comment made Rigsby groan while Van Pelt looked at him with a puzzled look.

"Oh, Boss. Hogan's and Voyce's alibis check out. They were in a meeting with fifteen other people at the time of death." Van Pelt stated quickly, embarrassed she had almost forgotten to tell her boss.

"Okay. Rigsby, you, Cho and I will see how many more interviews we can finish today while Jane meets up with your friend. Van Pelt, you keep an eye out on Harris. See if you can calm him down."

"Yes, Boss."


	4. Chapter 4: Assault

Chapter 4 is up! And drama shall now ensue. Why? Because I love drama, and this is a TV drama (and a fanfic. And really, what fun is a fanfic if it's not ultra dramatic, fluffy, sexy, etc?). Thank you to all who've taken an interest in this story! I would really love reviews, ideas and criticism (and cookies). It helps me improve, and I promise I will work harder to review everyone else's stories!

***

Ch. 4 – Assault

"Tell me about Joyce, John." Jane asked calmly.

"Beautiful woman. Always has been. Those long legs... curves in all the right places. She always had that beautiful, long, red hair. And boy was she one hell of a lover!" Boris chuckled.

"You two grew up together in a small town, surely you had to know her better than just her looks?"

"Eh, yeah. She was pretty outgoing, determined to make it big. But any deeper than that, it didn't really matter. Y'know?"

"No, I don't."

Jane's face was very serious. He hated men like this, the men who only looked at physical beauty and never bothered to look deeper. His wife was incredibly smart and caring. She wasn't particularly funny, though bless her she would try. Always telling horrible jokes, never being able to hit the punch line just right. But Jane would laugh anyway. He found himself missing those terrible jokes.

"We're just animals, Mr. Jane. Everything ultimately comes down to physical attractiveness. I mean, all animals do it. They pick out the mate that has the most important physical qualities. So do humans."

"You pig."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You're a pig. You're only interested in physical beauty when there's so much more to it. Joyce helped get you into this job, tolerated you. And instead of mourning her death, you're having sex with other models."

"Look, just because you're angry that I get to bang whatever hot model I want while you're stuck with one ugly bitch doesn't mean you have the right to say things like that to me!"

A chord snapped in Jane's mind. He thought that chord might have been tied to his vision, because he didn't even remember punching that pig square on the nose. But he did, and he felt absolutely no regret about it.

Boris fell over, trying to catch the streams of blood pouring out of his nose. He was too in pain and shock to fight back.

"You'll be hearing from my lawyer you asshole!" Boris screamed as Jane walked out of the room, fiddling with his wedding ring.

---

"What the hell, Jane?!"

Lisbon stomped over to Jane. Her face was red with fury. Jane didn't even look in her direction, his gaze fixated on the city beneath them, still fiddling with his ring.

"Boris is filing assault charges on you! And there's no way you can get out of this one! This was way more than just a tweak on the nose!"

Jane still remained silent.

"Well do you have anything to say for yourself?!"

Nothing.

"...Jane. Why'd you do that?"

"He deserved it."

"Even if he did, that doesn't mean you can! We're trying to get on good terms with our new boss. How am I supposed to explain this?"

"I dunno."

"Jane." Lisbon clutched onto his arm, looking up at him. He hadn't looked at her this entire time. She was growing concerned.

"...He insulted my wife." He finally turned to look at her. His eyes were obviously fighting back tears.

"What did he say?"

"What does it matter?! Tell the bastard I'll see him in court." Were Jane's final words before stomping off.

---

Lisbon stood outside of Boris's studio. She had to fix things, and legally there was no getting around it. Maybe if she could appeal to his softer side? If he even had a softer side. This man had already pissed off two of her co-workers, causing one of them to actually punch him. This was not going to be easy.

"Mr. Boris?"

"Go away, I've had enough of you and your team for one day."

"I'm terribly sorry for what happened, Mr. Boris. I have no excuse for Mr. Jane."

"Oh you will be sorry! I've hired the best lawyer I could find! I'm sending that maniac away for that, I'll make sure of it."*

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I was wondering if there was any way we could get you to drop the charges. I'm willing to help compensate for your injury."

Boris eyed Lisbon suspiciously before taking a seat in front of her. His hand lifted to his chin as he eyed Lisbon up and down for what seemed like an eternity.

"Hm. Well, maybe you could make it worth my while."

"What would you like me to do?" She had a strong suspicion as to what it exactly it was he wanted. But she asked, in the far hopes he didn't mean that.

"If you come to my apartment tonight, maybe I'll think about dropping the charges."

Was she really willing to go this far just to get Jane out of trouble? Did Jane really mean that much to the team? To her?

Lisbon's mind rushed back to when her father would come home wasted. The smallest thing would set him off. Sometimes he'd come home to find that one of her brother's didn't clean his room, or a note from school telling him that they'd misbehaved again. And once he sent her brother, Mike, to the hospital.

She knew she had to protect her brothers, but she just didn't know how. Until one night her dad stomped into the kitchen, startling her youngest brother into dropping and breaking a glass. She panicked when he raised his hand, she had to do something, anything. So out of sheer desperation to protect her youngest brother, she grabbed the nearest thing to her, a wooden spoon, and threw it at her father's head. She doesn't remember the rest of that night.

But she remembers the terrifying feeling of having to protect those she cared about. And whether or not she would admit it out loud, she cared about Jane. But she also felt like she had to protect the team, keep them together. The way she had failed with her biological family.

She hoped maybe she wouldn't remember this night either.

***

* According to the very little internet research I did, assault charges can land you up to 2 years in a county jail if you have proof of injury. It's all very dependent, but that's the charges I was leaning towards, in case you were wondering.


	5. Chapter 5: Small Town Lovers & Admirers

I want to thank everyone who reviewed my story so far! I'm glad you all seem to be enjoying it. And I apologize for the short chapter this time, I'm having... a fun time trying to pay for school this semester ^^;

***

**Ch. 5 – Small Town Lovers & Admirers**

Looking at the now heavily guarded entrance to the Visage headquarters, Jane knew there was no way he'd be able to get in. He was prohibited from going inside unless the assault charges were dropped, and there was no way that would happen. He turned around to walk off to the temporary office they had to work at when a woman collided into him.

"Watch where you're going!" She hissed with a hint of a southern accent.

"I'm sorry ma'am. I didn't see you there. Are you okay...?"

"Carolyn. Carolyn Sutter. I'm fine. Just going in for a photo shoot."

"A terrible time to be working here, what with the death of one of the models."

The woman was silent for a few seconds before responding.

"Yeah, Joyce was a great woman. Things just wont be the same without her."

"Oh, so you knew her then?"

"Yeah, she and I went to high school together. We were both eager to get out of that small town and make it big. That was always easier for her though, she was always so beautiful."

"But you're quite beautiful yourself."

"Well, I had to work harder for that. I was more of the chubby girl back then."

Just then, Boris walked past Jane and the girl. She eyed him longingly, while Boris was focused on glaring at Jane.

"Do you know him?"

"Yeah..." She seemed lost in thought for a while before looking at her watch. "I'm sorry, I really need to get going." And with that, she ran inside, calling after Boris.

---

"Good morning, Jane." Rigsby announced all too happily.

"Yeah."

"Oh come on, Jane. Be happy! You just sucker punched that bastard and got away with it!"

"What?"

"Yeah, he dropped the charges. I guess Boss was able to get through to him. Though I can't imagine how."

Jane thought about it for a minute, then looked around the team's temporary office. Van Pelt and Cho were heading to see Harris to see if they could get something out of him. Rigsby was searching through files while sipping his coffee. Lisbon was nowhere to be seen.

Twenty minutes later, Cho and Van Pelt came out from the interrogation room.

"That guy's still just as crazy as ever."

"Eh, well even if he wasn't, you wouldn't get a confession out of him. He's innocent."

"Damn it, people! We're nowhere close to catching the perpetrator! We're cutting people loose when we need to be finding the guy." Lisbon finally arrived, a tight grip on her coffee and slight circles under her eyes. Jane looked suspiciously at her for a few seconds. She was refusing to look Jane in the eye.

"I have a theory as to who it was." Jane exclaimed in the far hopes this would help improve Lisbon's mood.

"Please, enlighten us."

"Well Joyce and Boris were both from the same town. I ran into another model who was from that same exact town. Carolyn Sutter."

"What makes you think it was her?"

"Well for one, she seemed to actually care about Joyce's death--"

"She cares about her, therefore she must be the killer?" Lisbon rolled her eyes, getting more upset.

"Hogan said that everyone is seen as a competition in the modeling world. Everyone is an enemy to each other. Joyce's death sure didn't seem to bother any of the other models. What if, Joyce wasn't a competition to Carolyn in modeling, but in fact a competition in something more personal?"

"More personal? Like what?"

"John Boris. He had been sleeping with Joyce, that wasn't a secret. Boris only came to San Francisco after Joyce had become a model. I'll bet that Carolyn made it up here not too far after Boris did."

"It's a good motive, but we have no proof."

"Ah, but that's where I have a plan to get proof!"

"It better be one hell of a plan!"


	6. Chapter 6: Red Headed Models

Time to wrap this case up and move on to a different angle! I hope you all are enjoying reading this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it! Thanks again to all who have reviewed my story! Now I give you all cookies *hands out cookies*

***

Ch. 6 – Red-Headed Models

"I really don't like this plan." Van Pelt muttered to herself as she strolled into the building, her heels clicking with each step she took.

"Suck it up, Grace! We needed a tall, beautiful red head to pose for us. You fit that description perfectly." Jane said unassuredly into the microphone.

"What if he doesn't bite the bait?"

"This is no time to be modest. He'll definitely bite."

Grace walked into Boris's photo shoot gallery. The side of his nose had a purple tint to it, but it looked like he tried to cover that with some makeup. He was probably trying to look as decent as possible so he could still hit up some of the models, Van Pelt thought.

He was just finishing Carolyn's shoot, but as soon as he saw Van Pelt, he focused all his attention onto her. He whistled.

"I'm so sorry! I'm new here and still trying to find my way around."

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about it, sweetheart. Tell you what, let me just finish up here and, uh, I'll help you find where you need to go."

"Oh, well there's no rush. I just thought I'd be early, to make a good impression."

"Fantastic idea."

Carolyn was absolutely fuming. Without a single word, she picked up her bag and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

"Eh, don't worry about her. Hey, would you help me get this stuff into my office back there?"

"Sure."

Boris followed Van Pelt into his office, unable to remove his eyes from her behind. Just as she put his equipment down, he closed his office door.

"You know, you're a very beautiful woman."

"Thank you. You know, you're not too bad looking yourself." Grace felt like she was going to vomit. She was really hoping this plan would work. She just wanted-- no, needed to get out of there ASAP so she could take a hot shower.

"How much time did you say you have?"

"Oh, plenty."

"Good."

Practically flying over to Grace, he wrapped his fingers around her bottom and locked her into a kiss.

"Are you in place, Cho?" Lisbon asked over the radio.

"Roger that."

Rigsby gritted his teeth, watching the camera that was placed in a small flower attached to Van Pelt's shirt. He couldn't actually see what was going on, but he could tell. He stayed back because he knew that he would bust open that door and shoot Boris before anything else could happen. But oh how he wished he could do just that.

Just then, the office door flew open, and there stood Carolyn with a gun drawn.

"Woah, hey, take it easy there Carolyn--" Boris begged, putting his hands up.

"Shut up!"

"What's this about Car?"

"Oh like you don't know you smug bastard! I loved you! But I was just never pretty enough, not like Joyce. I lost the weight, and I was pretty enough to become a model after that! But that just wasn't enough for you, was it?"

"Car, look, I just--"

"I'll always just be that chubby girl in high school to you, wont I?!"

The safety in the gun clicked.

"Go now, Cho!"

"Drop your weapon, Carolyn!" Cho ordered.

Carolyn turned her head to look at the stern agent. Van Pelt used this opportunity and drew her concealed weapon.

"Do as he says, Carolyn."

Carolyn broke into tears, but reluctantly put her gun down and Cho took her into custody.

---

That night, Rigsby held Van Pelt tightly, refusing to let go. He hated that she had been put in that position, with that man. No, that pig.

Van Pelt stirred in her sleep, causing her to wake herself up. She looked up at Rigsby with a worried look on her face.

"You should get some sleep."

"Not tired."

"You sure? You look tired."

Rigsby chuckled a little, and looked deeply into her sleepy eyes. He really was tired, and he knew that Van Pelt was safe and secure now. But this case brought a sick feeling to his stomach to add too a bad feeling he'd been suppressing all day. He didn't like talking about it, but his bad feelings usually proved to be right. And he felt he needed to keep Van Pelt safe.

"I'm fine. I just enjoy watching you sleep too much." He smiled and gave her a sweet kiss.

Satisfied with his answer, Van Pelt drifted back into sleep. Rigsby watched as a single drop of condensation from the window slid down, leaving a trail in it's path. And as soon as the droplet hit the bottom, the ominous feeling hit Rigsby even harder nearly causing him to shiver. He really hoped his gut was wrong this time.


	7. Chapter 7: Suspension

Another short chapter, I apologize. I'm just a tad bit too tired to go over this chapter again to see if I can make it any longer. I want to thank everyone again for their reviews!

***

Ch. 7 – Suspension

Back in Sacramento, the team was celebrating with the usual case-closed pizza. Rigsby was poking fun at Cho for having turned down a date with a model. Cho could only laugh and slide his face into his hand while Van Pelt shot death glares at Rigsby. Jane walked up to the team and took a slice of pizza.

"Hey where's Lisbon?" Jane asked.

"Oh, she's in her office." Van Pelt pointed at Lisbon's closed door. Lisbon's door was rarely closed, especially when there was pizza waiting for her in the bullpen.

"Still?" Rigsby asked a little shocked.

"Yeah, she seems stressed about something. I figure it's be better just to leave her be for now. She'll be back to her old self once she has a chance to calm down." Cho was worried about her, but he knew that Lisbon could take care of herself.

Jane just kept a weary eye on her door.

A slender woman came in and knocked at Lisbon's door. She whispered something inaudible to her. Shock entered Lisbon's face as she nodded to the woman. She grabbed her coat and was about to leave the bullpen when she called for Jane to follow.

"Going to see the boss-lady?" Jane asked when he finally caught up with Lisbon. She didn't respond to him, she just kept walking towards her destination.

They walked into Sasha's office with her head buried in paperwork, not having noticed the arrival of Jane and Lisbon.

"You wanted to see us, ma'am?"

Sasha finally looked up.

"Ah, yes. Congratulations on yet another closed case. And without having to break any laws in order to catch the culprit."

"Thank you ma'am." Lisbon sounded sincere, but her face showed just how confused she was. She couldn't possibly have sent for them just to congratulate them.

"Yes, but there was a little something that caught my attention. There were charges filed against Mr. Jane one day, and they magically seemed to have disappeared the next."

"Oh yeah, just a misunderstanding! Boris and I patched things up and he dropped it." Jane shrugged, putting on his best act to convince Sasha.

"I highly doubt that, Mr. Jane. Besides, I overheard that it was Agent Lisbon who went and spoke to Boris about the matter." She turned to Lisbon, frowning in disapproval. "What exactly did you say to him?"

"I just tried to explain and apologize for Jane's behavior. Somehow I must have gotten his sympathy and he told me he would drop the charges."

"Nothing else then, hm?" Lisbon felt like Sasha's eyes were burning a hole right through her.

"No ma'am, I was very professional and courteous."

"Well see, part of my problem with this is that you went and spoke with him off-record. How am I to know that you didn't blackmail or threaten him?"

"I didn't—"

"Save it, doll. You need to follow the rules. Everything by the book. And I mean everything. I can't risk even having gossip flying around that an agent isn't following the rules. Now I'm sorry it's had to come to this but--"

"Come to what?"

"You and Mr. Jane are being put on suspension for two weeks."

"You can't do that!"

"Yes, doll, I can. And I did."

"Ms. Clayson, please, don't punish Lisbon. This was my fault." Jane was pleading, he never pleaded.

"Mr. Jane, were you with Agent Lisbon when she met with Boris?"

"Well, no, but--"

"Enough. This isn't a debate. Agent Cho will be put in charge until you come back. Agent Lisbon, please use this time to think about what I said. You're a good agent with a very promising career. I'd hate to see that be ruined."

She waved for the two to leave her office and went right back to her paperwork. Lisbon stood in shock for a few minutes, unsure of what to do. Jane gently touched her arm, hoping he could help but Lisbon tugged away and stormed out of the office.


	8. Chapter 8: Breaking the Dam

YEAH! I am on a roll tonight. I promise there will be more tomorrow! I'm trying to write as much as possible before I start school on Tuesday. It gets pretty angsty here, so I'll probably be OOC. But anyway, still not owning The Mentalist, and as always, reviews are welcome. Don't make me beg! -begs-

***

Ch. 8 – Breaking the Dam

Jane was eating a sadly quiet dinner with the team. They didn't have a case for the night, and the team were going to treat Jane and Lisbon to dinner in the slight hopes it would help lighten the situation. Only, no one could get a hold of Lisbon.

"I can't believe you two were suspended over assault charges that were ultimately dropped!" Rigsby really was upset about the whole thing. Besides, the jerk got what he deserved.

"Why is that exactly?" Cho asked.

"Well, on my part it's obvious. But she thinks Lisbon threatened the guy to drop the charges."

Van Pelt did her best to hide the fact that she almost choked on her food at that comment.

"That's ridiculous. Lisbon wouldn't, I mean. You don't think she did, do you Jane?"

"Well to be honest, I don't know. I wasn't there with her."

"She was really upset after meeting him. Who knows? Maybe she did threaten him." Van Pelt was shocked by Rigsby's comment. But the boss had been acting weird.

"Either way, you should be grateful, Jane. She did whatever she did to save your ass, and now she has to pay for it." Cho said just a little more harshly than he had intended.

Jane sat in silence for a minute after that comment. He really was grateful. Lisbon was always there to clean up whatever mess he made. It never dawned on him that he forgot to express his gratitude. Maybe that's why she was acting so weird, and being so unresponsive to anything he did or said. He had to go talk to her, see if he could help make things just a little bit better. And with that thought, he got up and thanked everyone for dinner before excusing himself.

---

This was Jane's sixth attempt at knocking on Lisbon's door. And every time he called her phone, it would go straight to voicemail. He was growing increasingly worried. Jane pressed his ear against the door, hoping he might hear any sounds of movement.

"What are you doing here?" A familiar voice called behind him.

Jane shot his head back to see a wobbily Lisbon with a very confused look on her face. She was wearing a black, knee-length skirt that flared just a little at the bottom, black heels, and a purple, ruffled blouse that revealed more than Jane had ever seen before. Her hair had a light wave to it, but was a bit messy in the back.

"Where were you? The guys and I have been trying to reach you all night. They invited us out to dinner." He was trying not to sound too worried.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I was out clubbing with Pat. We hadn't really hung out much outside of work lately and I thought: well, I have plenty of time to now." Lisbon shrugged. Her words were coming out pretty slurred, she'd obviously been drinking.

"Oh, well that sounds like fun." Jane masked a quaint smile.

"It was. But, why are you here?"

"Oh. Well, it doesn't really matter, it's not urgent. I just thought you might like the company. I'll come back later, when you're a bit more sober."

Lisbon crinkled her eyebrows in slight confusion. And if she had been sober, she definitely wouldn't have even thought of offering, but the alcohol mad her mind fuzzy so she asked without even thinking.

"Well, if you want company, you could stay here for the night? It's okay, you could sleep on my couch."

"Okay, sure."

Jane didn't really know why he accepted the invitation. Lisbon was upset with him not too long ago, and now she was drunk. He knew he should have just declined and come back later when she was completely sober. But maybe he could talk to her in the morning, thank her for what she did and apologize. And that way, she wouldn't be able to hide or run away from him.

Lisbon unlocked her door and flung her purse onto the floor, not caring where it landed.

"I could make us some tea?" Jane offered. "It might help lessen that hangover you're doomed to have in the morning."

"Sure." Lisbon just sat on the couch and turned on the tv, flipping through infomercials and documentaries.

Jane brought back two cups of chamomile tea and noticed Lisbon was still wobbling a bit, even seated.

"Here." Jane handed the cup to her.

"Thanks." She took a sip. "You know, at first I was really pissed about this whole thing. But then I realized that I could actually use the time off, even if I didn't choose to. Things have been so stressful, it was nice just to go out and have fun and not have to worry about work for once."

"I'm glad you're taking this so well." He offered a smile, glad to see her loose for once.

But then Lisbon started tensing up again. "I mean, who cares what _Sasha_ thinks anyway! I know I didn't threaten that bastard. I should've, but I didn't."

That last comment seemed to have opened a dam that let all the memories of that incident flood back into her consciousness. Her eyes seemed glued to her tea with furled brows.

"...Lisbon? You okay?"

Lisbon tore her eyes away from the cup and made eye contact with Jane. There was a look he'd never seen in her before. A look of disgust, anger, desire and lust all mixed in to make one unrecognizable emotion that was flowing through her.

Before he knew it, Lisbon pressed her lips to Jane's and was lustfully kissing him. He felt the world around him start to fade away as he lost himself in those beautiful lips. But when she started unbuttoning his shirt, reality came crashing back. He tried to push her off gently, but she wouldn't give. He shoved her off of him.

Lisbon was angry, and tears started forming in her eyes.

"What?! Don't I deserve a bit of gratitude?! I did it for you! It's always been about you!"

"Calm down, Lisbon. It's okay." He grabbed her shoulders, trying to calm her down. "Did what for me?"

The tears broke loose and were flowing uncontrollably down Lisbon's face. Her sobbing prevented her from speaking, and she felt like she couldn't breathe.

Jane held her in a tight hug, rubbing circles on the small of her back, trying desperately to calm her down. Eventually her crying stopped and she fell asleep. He picked her up and carried the sleeping girl to her bed. He wanted her to be in more comfortable clothes, but the gentleman in him prevented him from undressing her. So he just tucked her in the way she was, drying off the rest of her tears before turning off the light.


	9. Chapter 9: Pleading

School starts tomorrow! AAAHHHHH! That is all for this AN.

***

Ch. 9 - Pleading

This morning it wasn't Lisbon's alarm that woke her up, but the pounding in her head. The sun light wasn't helping either. Lisbon wanted desperately to close the blinds, but she was convinced if she moved too much her head would explode. So she settled for throwing the covers over her head. But she couldn't get back to sleep, as hard as she tried.

Realization struck her, and she forced herself to sit up. What exactly happened last night? She remembered going clubbing with Pat. Dancing, heavy bass, flashing lights from the club, downing shots without much thought. She vaguely remembered riding in a taxi. But after that, it was blank. And she was still dressed in the clothes she was wearing that night. _'Surely I would have at least changed into something more comfortable.'_

The clanking of dishes and the smell of pancakes shook her out of her thoughts of the previous night._ 'Oh god, I brought someone home with me.'_ Lisbon just did not want to deal with some stranger in her house right now. She didn't want to think about what they might have done together, especially after San Francisco. She hugged her knees, feeling even dirtier than she already had, regretting she decided to go clubbing at all.

After gathering her thoughts, and dressing more comfortably, she headed into the kitchen to politely ask if the stranger would leave. But as she turned the corner, she saw the familiar blond curls of her consultant. She stopped in her tracks, now even more confused than she already was.

Jane turned around.

"Good morning sleepy head." Something was off. He didn't smile that 100 watt smile she felt he would have otherwise shot her.

"Um, good morning. Making breakfast?"

"Yup, blueberry pancakes will perk anyone up."

Lisbon sat at her table, and Jane handed her a plate full of pancakes, already buttered, and a small pitcher with heated syrup.

"Thank you."

She slowly nibbled at the pancakes, still wondering what happened, but too afraid to ask. Jane grabbed himself a plate and sat in front of Lisbon.

"Look, Lisbon. We need to talk."

Lisbon's heart skipped a beat. _'Oh god, what did I do? What the hell happened last night?!'_

"Um, okay. But can I eat breakfast and shower first? This hangover's killing me." She really just needed more time. More time to possibly find anymore memories to figure things out.

Jane just sighed.

"Alright."

The rest of the meal was spent in complete silence. Jane occasionally glanced over at a frantic looking Lisbon. He figured she might not remember everything from that night.

Once Lisbon finished, she just got up and headed straight for the bathroom. She checked herself in the mirror as she waited for the water to heat up. Her eyes were bloodshot. Way more bloodshot than she had expected them to be.

The shower proved to be of little help in jogging Lisbon's memory. She headed back to her room, taking as long as possible to get dressed before finally joining Jane in the living room. He patted the vacant spot on her couch, inviting her to sit with him. The look he gave her made her feel like a little kid again. Like she was about to get a very serious talk about something she did wrong. She couldn't bring herself to look back into his eyes.

"Just to calm your nerves a bit, I slept on your couch. I only went into your room to put you to bed."

Lisbon seemed to calm down a bit at that, but she was still confused about what they needed to talk about.

"I also wanted to thank you, for getting Boris to drop the charges."

She finally looked at him. She tugged a light smile and nodded.

"You're welcome."

Jane sighed and tugged at his ear, trying desperately to find the right words.

"Don't take this the wrong way. I'm grateful for you helping, but... I just... I need to know what you did to get me out of trouble."

Lisbon's face stiffened as she tried to put up her emotional shield.

"Usually you can figure this stuff out on your own. Why do you need me to tell you?" She could taste the bitterness in her words.

"I could. But I want to hear it from you. Whatever you did really upset you. And, I'm worried."

"I... I don't want to talk about it."

"Teresa..."

"I said no, Jane!"

Jane closed his eyes and dropped his head. It dawned on Lisbon that he knew exactly what she did.

Silence fell over the room. And just as Lisbon was about to get up to lock herself in her room, Jane grabbed her shoulders. He gripped her so tightly that she flinched. But he just looked into her eyes with a frenzied look.

"Why?" Was all he could muster.

Tears welled up in her eyes. Memories of that night kept bombarding her brain, tormenting her even further. Her quivering lips made it difficult to speak, and somehow one tear managed to escape her eye.

"I... I was afraid. You could've ended up in jail. Sasha probably would've forced you to leave... And I know how important catching Red John is to you. I couldn't just let that bastard take all that away from you!"

Jane finally loosened his grip when he felt Lisbon's whole body shake at this confession. He could only stare at Lisbon in shock and realization that not only had his behavior caused pain for his family, but also for Teresa Lisbon. The people he loved most, all suffered because of him. And he had had enough of it.

He let go of Lisbon entirely.

"You don't deserve that, Teresa. You deserve so much better. I'm sorry."

He got up and gathered his coat and vest and walked towards the door.

"Patrick, wait!"

Lisbon was frantic. She knew if he left now, she might not ever see him again. She jolted from the couch and grabbed his arm just as he had opened the door.

They looked at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Both with pleading looks. His pleading to just let him go. Hers pleading him to stay. Neither one baking down.

"Please... Please stay, Patrick."


	10. Chapter 10: Red Concrete

Short chapter. I apologize for that, and for the fact I haven't reviewed anything in forever. The monkeys who work at my school have given me more time for writing and reviewing. While a good thing for all of you, not such a good thing for me. But anywho, this story is getting super complex. Reviews would make my life a little more bearable at the moment, and I will work harder to review more stories myself. Please enjoy!

***

Ch. 10 – Red Concrete

Cho slid his face into his hands to cover up his emotions. He wasn't sure how much longer he'd be able to hold onto his stoic composure. It was only the second day of Jane and Lisbon's two week suspension, and the news he'd just received wasn't helping. But he had been given responsibility for a reason, he knew that. He had to be strong for the team while Lisbon couldn't be. He dragged his palms off of his face, hoping it would take his feelings with them, and lightly slammed his hand against his desk.

"We've got a case."

"Where at?" Rigsby asked.

"Just off of I-80 on the west side of Sacramento." Cho knew he would inevitably have to tell his teammates the whole story, but damned if he wasn't going to put it off as long as possible.

"Alright, let's head over there then." Rigsby and Van Pelt slowly gathered up their things, wondering why Cho was still sitting at his desk.

"Cho? Hello? Let's go."

"It's Red John."

The team looked like deer caught in headlights. They knew they had to move, get to the crime scene. But their bodies didn't seem to comprehend this.

"We've got to tell Jane and Lisbon." Rigsby finally said.

"We can't, they've just started their suspension." Van Pelt responded.

"Maybe we can get Sasha to let them back on, just for this case."

"No. Lisbon and Jane are already on suspension for something minor. Imagine what she would do to us for this." Rigsby was irritated by this, but Cho had a point. "I'll talk to Sasha later, just to make sure. But for now, we've got to make sure this case stays on this team."

Rigsby and Van Pelt nodded in agreement and gathered up their things.

---

The team stood staring at the crime scene, mouths agape. It was all rather poetic really, in a vile way. There lay the body of John Boris, sprawled out on top of a heap of garbage underneath a busy highway. The classic Red John painted on the concrete above him.

No one really felt any remorse for the man. Really, they felt this scene he was planted in was perfect for him. The low-life of a man finally rolling around in a heap of filth. But fear struck the team paralyzed while forensics seemed so unfazed by it all. So oblivious to the fact that Red John chose to murder someone they had talked to just the other day. Someone that landed the suspension of Red John's favorite toy.

Everyone seemed to simultaneously break their attention away from the crime scene to look suspiciously at everyone else who was busy gathering evidence. No one could be trusted. They all knew that now. But everyone hoped that the death of Bosco's team would have cleansed the CBI of Red John followers. Obviously a false hope.

The busy scenery around them seemed to slow down. All the weight of knowing they couldn't trust anybody anymore felt asphyxiating. And the three colleagues looked at each other, knowing full well that the whole team had to stick together, now more than ever.

A nod from Cho told Van Pelt and Rigsby exactly what they had to do, and they each walked to where they needed to be, going straight to work, except for Cho. Cho knew he had a very important phone call he had to make, and screw the suspension.


	11. Chapter 11: Martyr

I'm sorry this chapter is short! (I've been doing that a lot lately) After this chapter I got kind of stuck on where to go from here, but I think I've figured it out. Now I just have to actually get to writing it. Life's been hectic, and I'm not around a computer much, but I shall try my best to work hard!

***

Ch. 11 - Martyr

Lisbon walked to the blond man sitting in her hallway and handed him a cup of tea, which he took haphazardly. She sat against the wall opposite to him, facing him. She had no idea how she managed to keep Jane from leaving, but she did. But he hadn't said a word since he sat there. And Lisbon really didn't know how long ago that was, but she guessed pretty close to thirty or forty minutes.

"It was my decision. You shouldn't blame yourself. It's not like you forced me to."

"But you made that decision because of something I did."

"It's not like Boris didn't have anything to contribute to this. He backed me into a corner I felt I couldn't get out of. It's nothing I haven't dealt with before. I'll be okay."

Jane's gaze jolted up from his tea to Lisbon's face, giving her a look mixed with confusion and slight disappointment.

"You've done this before? Why would you do that to yourself?"

"Not exactly this... My father, he'd get angry. Never really at me, but he would get angry at my brothers. I had to protect them. So I would... I would get him to get angry with me instead. I didn't know what else to do at the time."

The news articles about Lisbon's hard work when she was younger flashed through Jane's mind. Saint Teresa they all called her for doing her hardest to protect people. Teresa the martyr was more like it. So willing to put herself in harm's way just to ensure the safety of those around her.

A twinge of sorrow tugged on Jane's heart as he thought about all the things Lisbon's gone through for those she cared about. He concluded that the only selfish thought this woman probably ever had was to be happy with those around her. And really, how selfish is that? She deserved happiness. Though happiness seemed to want nothing to do with this woman.

He finally got up and sat next to that selfless woman and placed his arm around her. He realized that he had stayed because she needed just one shred of happiness. And while he wasn't really sure how he could give that to her, he needed to try. His selfishness had cost him his happiness, and he felt he deserved it. But this woman seemed to only give and give, while receiving nothing in return. He had to show her that her sacrifices were not all made in vain. Teresa the Martyr needed just the slightest hope of salvation.

Lisbon leaned her head on Jane's shoulder. They sat in comfortable silence for what seemed like hours, completely comfortable in their silence. Their breathing lulling them into a kind of relaxing trance, and Jane couldn't help but wonder what he had done to deserve the compassion of this woman.

The silence was finally broken by Lisbon's phone in the next room. She looked up at him with confusion and a shred of annoyance that this moment had been interrupted. But she excused herself and answered the phone.

"Lisbon. Oh, Cho. What's up? Oh... Well, I don't think... What? How?... I don't know if we... Okay, okay. See you there."

She placed the phone back down gently, as if the slightest contact with the table would cause it to shatter. Jane looked up inquisitively at Lisbon, waiting for the news. But when he saw the look of terror on her face, he wasn't sure he really wanted to know.

"It's Red John... He killed Boris."


	12. Chapter 12: Power Play

*jumps and dances around in a celebratory fashion* I GET TO KEEP MY JOB! ... *ahem* I apologize for that.

So anyhow, I FINALLY got back around to writing again after my whole nervous schpeil of how I was going to pay for anything. I'm still editing and working over the next chapters of Rosy Cheeks and Shepherd's Warning, but I will try to gets those up ASAP. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

No, I still don't own The Mentalist, I don't even own the car I drive D:

***

Ch. 12 – Power Play

The atmosphere of the diner was filled with cheering, laughing, and singing from the local high school football team. There was dancing and teasing between the girls and boys, and until you reached one of the tables in the back, your heart would be filled with the joy overflowing the room.

Jane and Lisbon met up with the team at the diner that evening. Cho told them any and all information they had gathered on the case. Though with no surprise to anyone, there wasn't much. Their food had arrived ten minutes before they delved into the case, but no one had bothered to even look at it, let alone eat it.

"How could Red John have known about what happened with Jane and Boris?" Van Pelt muttered. "There wasn't any video in that room."

"It has to be someone inside the CBI, there's no other way." Cho stated.

"I would have thought that whole... incident with Rebecca would have scared off any Red John followers, or at least keep them out for a while. It hasn't been that long."

"Obviously not." Jane blurted, fingering through his fries as if the answer to all of this would be at the bottom of the basket.

"Van Pelt has a point though, it hasn't even been a year since Red John pulled that last stunt." Lisbon slid her face into her hands, hangover still lingering. "This all feels like one big, elaborate prank."

"Nah, it feels more like a power play. Like Red John is just flaunting just how much power he has over everyone, how much power he has over us." There was a hint of defeat in Jane's voice.

"Like Sasha." Rigsby stated ever so calmly. Finally hunger hit him, and he took a big bite out of his sandwich.

The team stared at him as if he grew a second head.

"What? Like none of you were thinking it too? She's been doing the same exact thing to us. Showing us just how much power she has, and that she's not afraid to use that power. Besides, didn't any of you notice that the murder the other day happened while we were in the middle of that sexual harassment thing that _she_ forced us to go to? She _insisted_ that we go to that specific one. Then we come back and you two are suspended? I don't know, its too much coincidence for my liking."

Lisbon could feel the pounding in her head beating even harder now.

The team sat in silence as they picked at their food, except Rigsby who had gotten his appetite back. The thought of someone so high up in power being controlled by Red John... well it was scary to say the least. If it was Sasha, how would they prove it? And even if they could prove it, how could they ensure none of this happened again?

"We're going to have to break a lot of rules if we're going to prove Sasha's the one behind this." Cho stated matter-of-factually.

Everyone nodded solemnly. They'd broken rules before, but nothing as monumental as this. And while they were all worried for their jobs, they knew there were bigger things to worry about now. The safety of each other, of the whole CBI, hell, even of the whole state seemed to require that they all hang themselves by their own ropes.

"Okay, well if we're throwing the rules aside, we're going to need any and all information on Sasha's background. Any information could help us find her link to Red John." Patrick said to Cho, Risgby and Van Pelt, knowing that he and Lisbon couldn't get away with even being in the building. Getting the information seemed to rest solely on the three agents' shoulders.

Lisbon chimed in without even thinking.

"Discretion is key here. It might be better to get a hold of the information on paper rather than electronically. But that means you guys are going to have to get creative. Everyone's files are under lock and key in the storage room. But the real challenge is the guard." Lisbon's mouth seemed to be working against her. She could only mentally curse herself for practically egging her team on in this suicide mission.

"That's more of Jane's thing, Boss..."

Now Lisbon was really cursing herself as she looked into Van Pelt's uneasy eyes.

"Nobody has to do this if they don't want to, Van Pelt. I would never force any of you into that kind of position."

"What else could we do?"

"Honestly, I don't know."

The three agents looked at their boss and consultant. They both had their heads hung low in what looked like defeat. Letting go of their apprehension, they each nodded to each other, knowing once again the work they had to do.

"Don't worry about us, Boss. We'll talk to you again as soon as we can."

And before Lisbon could even think of a response, the three of them were out the door.

"Lisbon, you okay?"

Lisbon's head snapped towards the blond man who dared asked that question, her mouth slightly agape. She was certainly not okay, all she wanted to do was scream. Scream at Minelli for leaving. Scream at Sasha for everything of late. Scream at Boris for cornering her. Scream at Red John for tormenting them all. But mostly, she wanted to scream at herself for endangering the careers of her team.

But a soft "no" was all her voice would allow her to utter.


	13. Chapter 13: SixStep Plan

**A/N:** For those of you just now tuning in to this story, I started this sometime around Christmas, before Hightower was introduced. Well, I'll be damned if I let something else I started be left incomplete, I do that too much. So I'm GOING to finish this freaking story (even though I've since lost a lot of interest in it. I'm just finishing it for those who showed interest in it, because I love my readers). However, this chapter was pretty fun to write. I was going to get into more detail on the computer issue... but then I remembered that I know as much about computers as I do astrophysics (so... not much), so it's vague, and I don't even know what's wrong with the thing!

At least I know how I want this thing to end, so hopefully I can finish it and never look at it ever again *glares at the story*

**Disclaimer:** HAHAHAHAHAno

* * *

Ch. 13 - Six-Step Plan

The cool, dark atmosphere of the storage room held a certain air to it. An air that did it's intended job perfectly. The room itself was in the basement of the building, and there was only one way in and out. There were no windows to allow any extra light, only the yellow glow of the artificial bulbs to allow for minimal visibility. It was almost like a dark cave, giving anyone who entered a feeling of dread. As if anyone who came down here was no longer a human, but a monster who was to be feared by anyone who crossed paths with them. But as knowledge is the key to power, and this room held a lot of knowledge on a lot of people, anyone who came down was to be viewed as a threat. There were no exceptions.

At all times there was a check man, with whom you had to sign in and out to keep record of everyone who entered. Alongside the check man was always at least one guard, just in case. Anyone who entered needed a card key to open the gate to the actual files. Anyone who worked for the CBI was granted a card key, it was merely added security, and an added itinerary to show who entered the room.

On this particular shift there was only one security guard. He was a man of average build, hair that wasn't completely kept up with. His arms had misplaced, small scratches, most likely from home projects and dealing with tools. You did not have to be as observant as Patrick Jane to see the boredom written across his face and posture. The man next to him was scrawny with thinning hair and glasses. Just like the guard, he seemed bored. However he was trying to keep occupied by typing away on his laptop. It was clear these two men had nothing in common, and therefore had no way to keep each other entertained.

It was getting late, which meant most of the CBI was going home. Those remaining were working on cases, which gave Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt an advantage. But that still left a six-step plan the trio had to pull off: distract the check man, distract the guard, use another card key (to keep further suspicion away from them), get in, get Sasha's file, and get out. A six-step plan for a three man team.

Despite VanPelt's previous hesitation to this entire plan, the entire thing hinged on her ability to distract the check man _and_ retrieve the file.

The redhead strode into the room, trying to pull off an innocent face. Both men instantly shot their heads up, eager to have a new face in the room. Especially this pretty face.

"Excuse me, Mr. Richardson?" Van Pelt addressed the scrawny man. "I'm having issues with my computer, and tech support has already gone home for the night. But I'm working a case right now, and I really need my computer. Jones told me that you're good with computers, would you mind taking a look for me?"

"Sure, yeah. I mean, White can handle this place on his own, right?"

The guard gave the man a slight glare, but ultimately conceited with a nod.

Around the corner, Cho and Rigsby stood pretending to talk about sensitive case information and using the secluded basement as a means of escape from any wandering ears from those working above.

Back at the bullpen, VanPelt and Richardson were looking at the purposely corrupted computer. After testing the computer and a lot of tech talk, Richardson found the solution, but needed a chord to hook up to the computer. After some searching for the chord the young agent hid, Van Pelt admitted that she wasn't entirely sure where the chord was. She instructed Richardson to continue looking for it here, while she went to see if she could find another in the computer storage room. The man, obviously smitten by the beautiful redhead, was more than happy to comply.

On her way back to the basement, VanPelt sent a text message to Rigsby to go ahead with stage two.

Stage two was simple enough for the two men. To distract the guard, they started up a loud verbal argument. Shouting (but not too loudly) about Cho's leadership qualities, or lack thereof, Rigsby's inability to control his emotions, and Cho's inability to show emotion. This quickly drew the attention of the guard, and once he rounded the corner the men began to shove each other. The guard reacted as expected, trying to break the two apart. Out of the corner of his eye, Cho saw the guard try and reach for his walkie-talkie. Cho then threw the brawl on to the guard, mixing him into the tumble.

VanPelt slipped past the men with ease and used Richardson's card key, which she had swiped out of his pocket while he was busy looking at her computer. The storage room was easy enough to maneuver for the rookie, since she was often stuck in the building for investigations. So the task of retrieving files was often placed on her hands. Once she found Sasha's file, she silently closed the gate, slipped Richardson's card key underneath the papers on his desk, and snuck past the guard.

Cho had luckily seen VanPelt leave the basement, and took that as his que to end the fight. He quickly got up and shouted orders at Rigsby to go home and cool down before coming back to work. Reminding him in a stern voice that he was the one in charge.

Back at the bullpen, VanPelt placed the file on Cho's desk without notice and returned to check on Richardson's progress.

"I found a chord for you. All you really need to do is wait and unplug it once it's finished." Richardson said triumphantly.

"Thank you so much, you were a huge help." VanPelt managed to say in a heap of a sigh.

* * *

Jane and Lisbon were sitting silently in Lisbon's apartment. Neither had really spoken a word since the diner, but words were pretty useless at this point. At least concerning either's feeling about this whole thing. However, both of their minds were racing.

The T.V. flickered silently, originally turned on to act as a distraction, but was proving to be a moot point. Finally Lisbon was the first to break the long silence.

"Why do you think Red John killed Boris? I mean, his time of death was within two hours of your suspension. I doubt even Red John is that good. So what other reason would he have to kill him?"

"I don't know. To taunt us, I suppose."

Before Lisbon had a chance to retort of the sheer stupidity of that idea, her cell phone went off. On the other line was Cho, announcing that they had Sasha's file and were heading to her place.

The file proved to hold the information they expected from a woman like Sasha. Originally from LAPD, she clawed her way to the top, proving just how tough she could be. Jane's assessment was that she was probably relentless at getting what she wanted, and knew how to work her way around to get just that. On-record however, there seemed to be no link to Red John. Not until Jane flashed across a familiar name.

"Wait a minute. It says here that one of her old partners was Catherine Merchant."

"So?" Lisbon asked, too exacerbated to deal with Jane's inability to get to the point.

"She was a Red John victim. The only victim who was in the force back then. From what I remember, she was working her way up the ladder pretty fast."

"Competition for Sasha?" Rigsby asked.

"Oh most definitely. And Sasha wouldn't want that, now would she?"

"Kind of hard for women to prove their worth in the force back then. So with less female competition, all the easier for Sasha to prove herself and move up." Cho pointed out.

It wasn't much proof. But it was enough to confront Sasha with. And just maybe they could get to the bottom of this.


End file.
